________________
OMNISCIENCE
125
the veil of the Temple of Divinity was destroyed completely, and the Effulgence of Knowledge Divine, that is full, all-embracing OMNISCIENCE, which like lightning, shines in one part but reveals the whole universe, flooded His Consciousness from within ! He was then sitting under a banyan tree in the Sakata forest close to the town of Purimatāla.
The details of the tapaścharana need not detain us here. But such an event as the acquisition of omniscience was not likely to remain unobserved. The devas perceived it from the specific signs which accompany it in their regions, and flocked to worship the WORLD TEACHER, now become really qualified to teach and preach the Truth. Under instructions from the Lord of the first heaven, a heavenly Pavilion was erected for the Lord's Preaching, by celestial artisans. The WORLD TEACHER sat in this Pavilion, above a. huge golden lotus, placed on a throne of heavenly gems, but so as not to touch it, sitting about a couple of inches above the lotus in the air. Here did the devas and men who learnt of the Illumination of the Lord flock together to worship the SOURCE of LIFE and LIGHT!
